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Caracas claims US$61m in tax from BP

Venezuela's tax agency on Friday notified British Petroleum PLC, one of the largest foreign oil companies operating in the South American nation, that it owes US$61 million in unpaid taxes.

The debt was calculated after an exhaustive tax review of firms operating within Venezuela's oil industry, the tax agency said in a statement. The review, which covered 2001 through 2004, found inconsistencies in the company's income tax filings.

BP must pay the debt within 15 days or face a 10 percent fine on the amount currently owed by the company. Longer delays could result in fines as high as 200 percent, the statement said.

Company representatives could not be immediately reached for comment.

Tax officials have conducted an industrywide review this year in the hope of collecting unpaid taxes from both local and foreign oil companies. Over the past two years, the tax agency has conducted a "zero evasion" campaign that includes temporary company closures and stiff fines for violations.
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